MyProgressiveRailroading

"On July 23rd 1966 the New York Central unveiled something radically new..."
"...a railcar with a pair of jet engines taken from an Air Force bomber and a long, sloping nose. The M-497 rolled out of the New York Central shops to prove that what the French could do in the way of speed tests with existing equipment could be performed elsewhere, as for example, on the flatlands of Ohio and Indiana."...

This 1947 ad from the Association of American Railroads is not nostalgia---it is totally relevant to today and will apply to tomorrow and beyond. It was an appeal to the American politicians and public but fell on deaf ears---ears that today that are plugged up with imported oil.
"WITH ALL THIS BUSINESS---WHT AREN'T RAILROADS MAKING MORE MONEY?"
"Ralroads are busy these days---as busy as they...

Michigan, known as the state that put the world on wheels (rubber tires), currently experiencing a once in a century economic collapse is embracing railway based transport as a fast-track to economic salvation.
"Michigan's transportation system,(or lack of one) across all modes, is a growing problem."
Here are some quotes from the Michigan Municipal League 'the review' magazine and other media...

"PULLMAN'S Private Railway Passenger Car Was Known The World Over"
"The saga of many a noted PULLMAN car has been sung in these pages, such as old #9, George M. Pullman's first experimental sleeper; PIONEER , the 1865 forerunner of the endless string of all-Pullman built vehicles fot the comfort of railway travelers; the first vestibuled train, etc. "But hardly a word---and certainly not...

President Obama and his team have laid out the High-Speed-Rail plan for the USA---that's great news. April 16,2009 will be an historical date in US rail history.
As I see my neighbors batten down their hatches as the auto companies, suppliers, machine shops, engineering and design studios get sucked into the collapsing economic whirlpool it seems a logical move to incorporate the auto industry's capacity into...

Masdar City will have an automated electric passenger rail system up and running before Detroit finishes closing its auto plants, demolishes them and sends the scrap metal to China by rail. This is no joke, TRW automotive was just demolished had its last load of scrap metal loaded last week and the site will be another weed filled lot. Just up the street is the now closed Chrysler stamping and assembly plant that runs...

Since viewing the CSX TV ad "Transformation" that does the transformation of a stalled truck on a freeway into a double-stack container train, and the "Close to Nothing" TV ad with bicyclists towing 1 ton of cargo it occured to me that AMTRAK could start running TV ads with the same kind of special effects giving similar messages---like: how many cars crawling along an interstate could be on an AMTRAK...

Encouraging letter of 25 Aprill 2009 addressed to me that I will recite:
"Thank you very much for your correspondence, which we received in this office on 15 April 2009."
" VIRGIN TRAINS are taking an active interest in the proposals for improvements to the American rail network; while this is still in its early days, I will ensure that your comments are passed on to the relevant Development Manager...

RAILWAY AGE for May 21st, 2009 published an article in the "More Infrastructure News" section:
"A proposal to build a new railroad tunnell linking Michigan with Canada is making waves in a part of Detroit already grappling with the abandoned MichiganCentral Station, which Detroit officials want torn down, others want to save, and still others see as a potential development opportunity and possible stop...

"Preservation Wayne, the Greater Detroit Historic Preservation Coalition and the Detroit Historic District Commission put out a call for people to take part in a group photo in front of ther Michigan Central Train Station on Wednesday, May 21, 2009. Dozens showed up. Organizers said the picture is inspired by the National Trust for Historic Preservation's "THIS PLACE MATTERS" initiative and will appear...

I recieved a letter from Richard Moe, President of the NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION dated February 23,2009.
"As PRESERVATION magazine's next "green" issue is about to be released, I am reminded of your email to me last fall."
"Michigan's Central Train Station is certainly an incredible link to our narion's history with rail. As we start to take on projects fot the...

"Its Century time!" - A minute ago, outside the station, you were in the heart of a great city, with crowds, blaring taxis, newsboys shouting the evening headlines. Now you're in a different world as you follow the crimson carpet down the platform of Grand Central Terminal toward the softly lighted, streamlined cars that will be your club on wheels for tonight."
"RELAX BY TWILIGHT" - Magically...

Just saw the documentary 'Blueprint America' on the Public Broadcasting channel in Detroit at 8:00 PM EST. The program discussed the road and transit infrastructures of three cities: Denver, Portrland and New York and the competition between rail and road that has been ongoing for almost a century.
Rail gets very positive coverage. There are numerous other rail & infrastructure videos.
"With roads...

Railroad maintenance of way is a far more efficient operation compared to what I will describe:
A convoy of 5 dump-trucks travels Eastbound along pot-hole filled Michigan State Highway M-59
5th dump truck to the rear carries on the rear of the bed a blinking arrow sign directing traffic to 'squeeze left.
4th truck also carries a blinking arrow with the same message.
3rd truck the same again,
2nd truck...

A response to Progressive Railroadings article: "Amtrak launches construction on new Auto Train station in Florida"
There hundreds of thousands of auto-commuters who travel between Michigan & Florida via Interstate I-75, including the Canadian Province of Ontario, since they pass through Detroit to head south. Most of the travelers either live in the North and have second residences in the South or vice...

"You will find within the comfortable and spacious cars of the 20th CENTURY LIMITED unique facilities for either work or relaxation."
"Hushed against the sound of travel---you breathe clean, fresh air in your air-conditioned, window-sealed quarters. If there is work to catch up on, the CENTURY secretary is at your mservice. we are the barber, valet and the carefully selected porters."
"Dinner...

"NEITHER A WISE MAN NOR A BRAVE MAN LIES DOWN ON THE TRACKS OF HISTORY TO WAIT FOR THE TRAIN OF THE FUTURE TO RUN OVER HIM"
Quoted: "Trains" by Hulton Getty, pg 88, Sourcebooks, Inc. ISBN 1-57071-605-6

"WHAT I MEAN IS THIS: the railroad connects my store...and my business...with every other town and city in the whole country."
"That means I can give my customers the same kind of merchandise---the same up-to-the-minute goods---that folks in the big towns enjoy."
"So you see why I figure that the railroad is really in partnership with me, and with every other local merchant."
"Yes...

The railway arch-bridge looks late 1800's to early 1900's with a blue/orange and red color sheme on the light-rail cars traversing the railway bridge.
In the Atlantic magazine june 2009 inside on the back cover facing page 100 a Siemens Transport Systems advertisement reads as follows:
"Wouldn't more efficient travel make the daily grind less of a grind?
"Because Siemens knows how precious...

"Skilled operators in a thousand towers guide these swift trains"
"FROM TOWER TO TOWER the signal is flashed, miles ahead of the speeding train. "Clear the way for 28." The Broadway Limited is coming through the night. In each tower in turn the operator repeats the order into the telephone from which it has come. Small indicating lights in the block tower and clear lights over the tracks, show...

"Every 2 & 1/2 minutes another new or rebuilt freight car goes to work for the PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD'"
"For any transportation requirement of industry or defense, new and rebuilt freight cars are going into PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD service this year at an unprecedented rate...on the average, a car every two and a half minutes of the working day...hopper cars, box cars, gondolas and flat cars."...

"A LIFT TO THE TAXPAYERS, TOO..."
"AMERICAN RAILROADS paid to the order of United States Government Three Billion Two Hundred and Fifty Million Dollars"
" IN THIS WAR the railroads have done twice as big a transportation job as in the first World War. But they are doing another job which may not be so well known, as is shown by these contrasting facts:
"In the last war, the operation...

"Alstom plans to open a railcar refurbishing plant on Mare island west of downtown Vallejo, California., Northeast of San Francisco on the east shore of San Pablo Bay. The site had been used by Kinki Sharyo. Ltd. to build light rail transit cars for Santa Clara Transportation Authority's LRT system centered in San Jose. Alstom plans to lease at least 112,000 square feet of space on Mare Island."
"Alstom's...

"Start from your home town now on a Grand Circle Tou r of the United States---east coast, west coast, border to border---go by one route, return by another..."
"Liberal stopovers---for $90.00 railroad fare in coaches---$135.00 in Pullmans---(plus $45.00 for one or two passengers in a lower berth).
"Get the full facts from your ticket agent about the greateset travel bargain in history!"...